Conquering the UMC Run

I ran the UMC Run, a race organized by the University Medical Center in Ho Chi Minh City for its 30th anniversary. It was held out in the Van Phuc urban area in Thu Duc, with distances ranging from a 1.5km Kids Run all the way up to 21km and even 30km. I signed up for the 10km, so out on the course I ran past all kinds of people, from little kids doing the short distance to the serious long-distance runners.

Out of the races I've done, this is the one that made me think the most about the reason behind it. A running event put on by a hospital sounds a little strange at first, but once I was out there it made sense. A hospital is the place that has to take care of people who've already lost their health. And yet here was that same place getting a few thousand people up early, out on the road, looking after their own health before it's too late.

I didn't feel like I was racing anyone in that crowd in the morning. It felt more like all of us were reminding each other of something easy to forget: every day you get to keep this body healthy is a day you're lucky.

Uy Nguyễn (Mike)